When Every Little Bit Counts
Henschel ensures the quality of heavy gear housings with measuring technology from ZEISS Industrial Metrology

What is the difference between a machine that breaks down following heavy use compared to a machine that is still running years later? It’s the little things, the minute deviations from the ideal form and inaccurate workmanship. That is why, Henschel ensures the long service life of its gears using the most accurate measuring technology available. Even very large, extremely heavy parts such as gear wheels and housings must be accurate down to the micrometer to ensure maximum quality.

Henschel ensures the quality of heavy gear housings with measuring technology from ZEISS

The challenge: super accuracy on extremely heavy and long parts

Henschel manufactures gears for plastics processing machines, for streetcars and trains. The gearboxes, which were purchased externally until recently, are now manufactured internally. Quality inspection of the steel housings that weigh up to several tons and are up to four meters long demand a very big, highly precise measuring machine. Bodo Kohlmeyer, Head of Quality Management at Henschel, therefore invested in a new machine from Carl Zeiss IMT a few months ago.

Production and quality inspection of gears and gear housing at Henschel

Solution: 850 millimeter-long stylus with active probe

"Only three of our suppliers were capable of delivering measuring machines that meet our needs,” describes Kohlmeyer. The key for Henschel in selecting Carl Zeiss was the active probe on the ACCURA, which automatically corrects the distance to the part during a measurement.

Henschel has been working with the ACCURA II since June 2010. It features a particularly long stylus (850 mm) and is also capable of precisely measuring the interiors of the very large housing parts. Henschel uses it to check the axis spacing, bearing boreholes and parallelism.

“We have made a considerable jump in our delivery reliability and are now efficiently implementing our high demands on quality,”

summarizes Kohlmeyer.

Benefit: maximum control down to the details

As Kohlmeyer knows all too well, a measuring machine is an investment that must be well-founded. "Many operations cut back on measuring technology and use manual logs and visual inspections instead. The results can sometimes make your head spin,” reports Kohlmeyer. Problems with the inaccuracies of individual housing suppliers are now a thing of the past for Henschel. “We have made a considerable jump in our delivery reliability and are now efficiently implementing our high demands on quality,” summarizes Kohlmeyer. The long service life and the internationally renowned reliability of the gears will guarantee that Henschel will continue receiving orders from discerning customers around the world in the future.

About Henschel

Henschel Antriebstechnik GmbH is one of the leading German companies in the field of propulsion technology and has played a key role in the technological progress of propulsion technology. Henschel manufactures high-performance gears and their housings for mechanical engineering and plant construction. The company constantly researches, develops and brings to market customized propulsion solutions and innovations in all areas of gear technology.